Just as the scar on Filip Konowal's face has
not dissappeared, so will never fade the fame of
this former Canadian soldier of Ukrainian
origin, whose name is written in letters of gold
in the history of Canada and the First World War.

George Salsky
11 February 1954
CBC Radio

FILIP KONOWAL, V.C.

Filip Konowal, a Ukrainian Canadian
volunteer serving as a corporal with the 47th
Canadian Infantry Battalion of the Canadian
Expeditionary Force, fought with exceptional
valour in August 1917 during the battle for
Hill 70, near Lens, France. For his courage
Konowal was awarded the Victoria Cross, the
highest decoration of the British Empire, by
King George V, in London, on 15 October
1917. His Majesty remarked:

Your Exploit is one of the most daring
and heroic in the history of my army.
For this, accept my thanks.

After being hospitalized in England, Konowal
was officially assigned for a time as an assistant
to the military attache of the Russian Embassy
in London. Later he was transferred to the
1st Canadian Reserve Battalion, served with
the Canadian Forestry Corps and eventually
with the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary
Force. He returned to Vancouver on 20 June
1919, after soldiered for three years and
357 days in the ranks of the Canadian Army,
one of as many as 10,000 Ukrainian Canadians
who had so served. Ironically they did so at
the same time as many of their compatriots
were being unjustly interned and otherwise
censured as "enemy aliens" during
Canada's
first national internment operations of
1914-1920. As the M.P. for Edmonton East,
Mr. H.A. Mackie, wrote to Prime Minister
Robert L. Borden, on 16 October 1918:

At the beginning of the war,
hundreds or thousands of Ukrainians
from Russia enlisted with the
Canadian Expeditionary Forces as
Russians, and no doubt the Canadian
military statistical bureau would today
show that most of these so-called
Russians came from districts which
are now in the territory comprising
the Ukrainian State. Canadian
recruiting officers soon discovered that
those so-called Russians were nothing
other than of the same stock as
Ukrainians. Because they were not
allowed to enlist as Austrians, they
used fictitious names and gave false
places of their birth to show that they
came from Russia, some even calling
themselves "Smith" and other English
names. To estimate the number of
Ukrainians who have enlisted in this
way with the Canadian Expeditionary
Forces would be very hard, as they
were enlisting in various battalions
from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast,
but it is safe to say that, to the
approximate half million soldiers in
Canada, if the figures of the War Office
were available, it could be shown that
these people, per population, gave a
larger percentage of men to the war
than certain races in Canada have,
after having enjoyed the privelages of
British citizenship for a period of a
century or more.

Honourably discharged, Konowal was
subsequently troubled by medical and other
problems, most thought to be a consequence
of his war wounds. Nevertheless, by 1928, he
had begun to rebuild his life. He enlisted in
the Ottawa-based Governor General's Foot
Guards. He re-married in 1934, taking for his
second wife a widow, Juliette Leduc-Auger. (His
first wife, Anna, and their daughter, Maria,
were lost in Ukraine during the Stalinist terror.)
Thanks to the intervention of another Victoria
Cross winner, and also a member of the
Governor General's Foot Guards, Major Milton
Fowler Gregg, Seargeant-at-Arms of the House
of Commons (1934-44), Konowal found
employment as a junior caretaker in the House
of Commons, a humble job, but, in the years
of the Great Depression, a welcome one. Spotted
washing floors of the Parliament building
by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie
King, Konowal was reassigned as the special
custodian of Room No. 16, the Prime Minister's
office, a post he held until his death. While
others might bemoan Konowal's apparently
low employment status, the man himself was
much more sanguine. As Austin F. Cross
reported, in The Ottawa Citizen on 16 June
1956, when Konowal was asked about being a
janitor he laughingly remarked, "I mopped up
overseas with a rifle, and here I must mop up
with a mop". He also revealed something that
was not recorded in the official account of how
he won his Victoria Cross:

I was so fed up standing in the trench
with water to my waist that I said the
hell with it and started after the German
army.

Konowal was again acknowledged for his
valour during the 1939 Royal Tour when His
Majesty King George VI shook his hand
during the dedication of the National War
Memorial, in Ottawa. He also kept in touch
with his wartime comrades, even attempting
to fight for Canada during the Second World
War, an impossibility given his age.

On 20 December 1945, Konowal joined the
Hull, Quebec, branch of The Canadian Legion
of the British Empire Service League,
recording on his application for membership
that he had been born on 15 September 1888
[in Kudkiv, Ukraine], had been wounded in
the war, was receiving a disability allowance
and working as a cleaner in the House of
Commons. Required to state why he was
discharged he wrote simply, "War was
finish".
[4]

In 1953, Toronto's Royal Canadian Legion
Branch 360 voted to make Konowal its patron,
which was officially confirmed during a
Remembrance Day dinner held in Toronto
on 7 November. And Konowal received yet
another distinction when he participated in
a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of
the institution of the Victoria Cross, held in
London in 1956. Too poor to travel to England
on his own resources -- even though Ottawa
offered to cover the actual transportation
costs -- Konowal turned to his fellow Ukrainian
Canadian veterans for help. With the financial
assistance of Ukrainian Canadian branches of
The Royal Canadian Legion he was able to go
overseas. On 17 May 1956 he wrote to the
president of Branch 360, Mr. Stephen Pawluk,
to thank all those who helped make that trip
possible:

Please be kind enough to extend
my thanks to every Ukrainian
Canadian Legion Branch ... I was very
surprised and I was not expecting that
much. I knew I had friends amongst
the Ukrainian people but I never
thought they could do so much for a
poor fellow like me.

On 25 June 1956 Konowal joined 300 other
Victoria Cross winners from around the world
at a formal tea party at Westminster Hall
hosted by the British Prime Minister, Sir
Anthony Eden. On 26 June he participated in
a march-past at Hyde Park, reviewed by Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip,
followed by an afternoon garden party. In a
photograph taken at the time Konowal is
shown at centre of the front rank of
Canadian Victoria Cross winners, a hero
among heroes.

Filip Konowal died on 3 June 1959, aged 72.
His Victoria Cross and other medals were
entrusted to Mr. G.R. Bohdan Panchuk, a
Ukrainian Canadian veteran who had served
with the R.C.A.F. during the Second World
War and had become a leading member
of the Ukrainian Canadian Veteran's
Association. These medals were eventually
acquired by the Canadian War Museum,
where they remain to this day.
[6] Konowal
was buried from the St. John the Baptist
Ukrainian Catholic Church, with full military
honours by his regiment, in Lot 502, Section
A, at the Notre Dame Cemetary, in Ottawa.
His wife, who died at age 86, was buried beside
him on 3 March 1987.

COMMEMORATING KONOWAL

In 1995, Lieutenant (retd) Ron Sorobey, of the
Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, began
research on Konowal's military record and
life. [7] Later he began working with Tony
Pidkalenko, other individuals and groups,
whose collective efforts ensured that Konowal's
story was commemorated in a timely and
honourable manner. A wreath-laying ceremony,
organized by the Ukrainian Canadian
Professional and Business Association of
Ottawa, involving representatives of The
Governor General's Foot Guards, The Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, The Royal Canadian
Legion and the Government of Ukraine, was
held at Konowal's grave on 6 December 1995,
Ukrainian Armed Forces Day. An upright grave
marker, identifying Konowal as a Victoria
Cross recipient, was placed in the Notre Dame
Cemetary by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Trilingual historical plaques honouring
Konowal were unveiled across Canada, first
in the Cartier Square Drill Hall of The
Governor General's Foot Guards in Ottawa
(15 July 1996), then at The Royal Canadian
Legion Branch 360 in Toronto (21 August
1996) and eventually in New Westminster,
British Columbia.

In English, French and Ukrainian the
plaques read:

Filip Konowal, a Ukrainian
Canadian who enlisted in the 77th
Battalion, while serving as a corporal
with the 47th Battalion of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force, fought
with exceptional valour in August
1917 near Lens, France. For this His
Majesty King George V personally
conferred the Victoria Cross on him in
London on 15 October 1917.

ENDNOTES

[1]
His Majesty King George V is quoted in
the Ukrainian Canadian Veteran's Association
Newsletter, Nos. 11-12, Volume 2,
November-December 1954, Ottawa, edited
by G.R.B. Panchuk. A copy is located in "The
Paul Yuzyk Papers" at the National Archives
of Canada, Ottawa.

[2]
For H.A. Mackie's letter to R.L. Borden see
Document No. 10 in Kordan and Luciuk, eds,
A Delicate and Difficult Question, 36-41.

[3]
See "VC Winner Was Almost Shot As A
Deserter", by Austin F. Cross, The Ottawa
Citizen, 16 June 1956, 2.

[4]
See Corporal Philip Konowal, V.C.
"Application for Membership In The Canadian
Legion of the British Empire Service League",
the original of which is on display at Branch
30 of The Royal Canadian Legion, 135 rue
Eddy, Hull, Quebec.

[5]
See F. Konowal to S. Pawluk, 17 May 1956,
"The Stephen Pawluk Papers", National
Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

[6]
On 8 December 1995 the secretary of The
Victoria Cross and George Cross Association,
Mrs. D. Grahame, wrote that Corporal
Konowal's Victoria Cross "is held by the
Canadian War Museum". However, it may be
that the museum does not own Konowal's
medal. In a letter to Dr. L. Luciuk, 3 May
1996, Mr. D. Glenney, the museum's Director,
Collections and Research, reported: "I must
also inform you of some unfortunate news.
The Victoria Cross shown is a replica... The
Canadian War Museum acquired Konowal's
medals from an Ottawa dealer in 1969. They
were displayed until 1972, and later put in
storage. Our records indicate that at some
point between 1972 and 1974, the Victoria
Cross was listed as missing. However, our
early records are sketchy; the medals are not
described in detail as to engraving. It is
possible that we may never had received the
original. An exhaustive search of our records
at my request this winter failed to shed any
new light on the situation. We are continuing
to investigate the issue of this important
Victoria Cross, to determine once and for all
if the original was ever acquired, and if so,
what happened to it".

47TH CANADIAN INFANTRY BATTALION

VICTORIA CROSS

No. 144039 A/Corporal, Filip Konowal

For most conspicuous bravery and leadership
in charge of a section in attack. His section
had the difficult task of mopping up cellars,
craters and machine-gun emplacements.
Under his able direction all resistance was
overcome successfully, and heavy casualties
inflicted on the enemy. In one cellar he himself
bayonetted three enemy and attacked single-handed
seven others in a crater, killing them all.

On reaching the objective, a machine gun
was holding up the right flank, causing many
casualties. Cpl Konowal rushed forward and
entered the emplacement, killed the crew, and
brought the gun back to our lines.

The next day he again attacked single-handed
another machine-gun emplacement, killed
three of the crew, and destroyed the gun and
emplacement with explosives.

This non-Commisioned Officer alone killed
at least sixteen of the enemy, and during the
two days' actual fighting carried on
continuously his good work until severely
wounded.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON KONOWAL & HIS MILITARY SERVICE RECORD

Little is known about Konowal's early life in
Ukraine. His father owned a stone-cutting
business in the village of Kudkiv, Podolia
province, located on the Zbruch river, which
formed the boundary line between the Russian
and Austro-Hungarian empires. At age 21
Konowal was conscripted into the Imperial
Russian Army. Although slight of build he
became an instructor in close-quarters
combat. After five years of military service
Konowal emigrated to Canada through
Vladivostok, arriving in Vancouver in April
1913, finding work as a lumberjack. After a
few months in western Canada, he moved to
eastern Ontario and found forestry work in
the Ottawa Valley. Like many other Ukrainian
Canadians, Konowal enlisted, in his case on
12 July 1915, with Ottawa's 77th Canadian
Infantry Battalion. After ten months training,
near Ottawa and Valcartier, he shipped
overseas on 19 June 1916 aboard the SS
Messanabie, which docked in Liverpool on
the night of 28-29 June 1916. During a six-week
layover at the Bramshott Camp a large
number of men from the 77th Battalion were
reassigned to the 47th Canadian (British
Columbia) Infantry Battalion, Konowal
among them. He was appointed to the rank
of Lance Corporal shortly thereafter. With
the men of his new unit Konowal embarked
for France on 10 August 1916. He went into
combat as part of the 4th Canadian Division
in the early fall, 1916, during what would
become known as the Battle of the Somme.
He also took part in the spring offensive at
Vimy Ridge and was appointed an acting
corporal on 6 April 1917. By the summer of
that year the Canadian army was redeployed
further north, toward the German-held town
of Lens, France. It was there, at the battle for
Hill 70, that Konowal would exhibit the
military virtues for which he was awarded
the Victoria Cross.

The 47th Canadian Infantry Battalion is today
perpetuated by The Royal Westminster
Regiment, in New Westminster, British
Columbia. The 77th Canadian Infantry
Battalion is perpetuated by The Governor
General's Foot Guards, in Ottawa.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the
financial support of The Royal Canadian
Legion Branch 360 (Konowal Branch) which
made this booklet possible. Special thanks
are due to Marta Horban-Carynnyk and
Marco Carynnyk for their translations of the
English text into French and Ukrainian; The
Canadian War Museum; Mr. Paul Charydczak;
Dr. Yvan Gagnon, Mr. Jerry Gangur, president,
Royal Westminster Regimental Association;
Mrs. D. Grahame, M.V.O., Secretary, The
Victoria Cross and George Cross Association;
Mr. J.B. Gregorovich, president, The Royal
Canadian Legion Branch 360 (Konowal
Branch); Ms. Patricia Grimshaw; Mr. Mykola
Kulyk (Tresurer, Branch 360); Mr. Marian
Lach, president of the The Royal Canadian Legion
Branch 183 (Mazeppa Branch); Major General
(retd) Robert LaRose (Honourary Lieutenant
Colonel, Governor General's Foot Guards);
Mr. Roy Lisogar; Mr. Gerald Locklin; Dr. Jack
Pike, Mr. Jerry Pohorecky (Secretary, Branch
360); Mr. Myron, Momryk (National Archives
of Canada); Mrs. Olha Pawluk for permission
to make use of the Konowal materials in the
"Stephan Pawluk Papers" at the National
Archives of Canada; Mr. Wayne Ramsay
(Senior Policy Development Officer,
Commemorations, Veteran Affairs Canada);
Mrs. Julia Stashuk; Mr. Myroslav Trutiak
(MST Bronze Ltd.); the Ukrainian Canadian
Civil Liberties Association; the Ukrainian
Canadian Congress; the Ukrainian Canadian
Foundation of Taras Shevchenko and the
Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business
Association of Ottawa.